Bandh enters sixth day in hills, Sikkim cut-off

Life continued to remain paralysed in the hills and Sikkim cut off from the rest of the country as the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) sponsored indefinite bandh demanding Gorkhaland entered the sixth day on Saturday.

There was no report of any untoward incident and the situation was peaceful, Inspector General of Police (North Bengal) KL Tamta said.

Six hundred CRPF personnel requisitioned to deal with the situation are being kept in reserve in Siliguri and no company has yet been sent to Darjeeling as the existing situation did not demand it.

Darjeeling District Magistrate Rajesh Pandey told PTI that National Highway 31-A linking Siliguri and the Sikkim capital, Gangtok, continued to remain cut off following the indefinite bandh as 70 km of the highway passes through bandh bound Kalimpong sub-division.

Army and police vehicles and school buses, however, were plying as they were exempted from the purview of the bandh, he said.

When asked whether there was any crisis of food and essentials in the hills, GJM president Bimal Gurung said there was no crisis.

The GJM relief committee was pressed into service to reach food and essentials to the hill residents even in the far flung areas as per need.

When asked how long the existing stock of ration would last, Gurung said, "We have taken preparations for a longer period, at least for a couple of months. We can very well survive and by that time, if the situation demanded, we will make alternative arrangements." He, however, did not elaborate on the alternatvie arrangements.

Gurung said that GJM would follow the path of non violence to achieve its demand for statehood and each and every hill person was ready for whatever sacrifice the situation demanded.

When asked whether he was expecting any co-operation from GNLF leader Subhash Ghising, Gurung said, GNLF had no existence, and Ghising was a past. "We are looking for a bright future at the cost of the present," the GJM president said.